Brief outline

Piaget and Vygotsky: Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget 1896-1980 - Genetic Epistemologist
Ph.D. in Zoology -  theory based in biology
used naturalistic observations of children, including his own

Stage theory - qualitative differences in knowledge
supported by research on children's actions and problem-solving, but
also EEG studies

Action=Knowledge (Mind creates knowledge)

Individual knowledge

Scheme - organized pattern of knowledge (or performance of an action)

Sensorimotor schemes are action schemes

Adaptation: occurs through assimilation and accommodation

1.  Sensorimotor stage: 0-2

Substage 1 (0-1 mo.): simple reflexes
Substage 2 (1-4 mo.): primary circular reactions
Substage 3 (4-8 mo.): secondary circular reactions
Substage 4 (8-12 mo.): coordination of secondary circular reactions
    goal-directed behavior, object permanence begins to emerge
Substage 5 (12-18 mo.): tertiary circular reactions
    variation of actions - experiment with things
Substage 6 (18-24 mo.): representational thought (mental "tools")
    symbolic thinking, deferred imitation

p. 191 - Can 5 month olds add and subtract?
Mickey Mouse dolls

2.  Preoperational stage 2-7
can engage in symbolic thinking, but
still not capable of operations: organized, logical mental processes
(pretend play)

language grows OUT OF cognitive advances - cognitive changes LEAD TO language

Centration - focus on one thing at a time

Egocentrism - can only use their own viewpoint

Transformation - don't understand how something can look different and not BE different (e.g., Someone in a Halloween costume really IS the person they're dressed up to look like. This is why seeing someone in a monster costume really IS scary to a young child.)

Intuitive thought - making up explanations for things

Animism - attribute "human" qualities to animals and inanimate objects (the sun is happy)

Conservation - learning that appearance is not necessarily reality - develops toward the end of this stage (often children can answer a question but can't explain why)

3.  Concrete Operational stage : 7-11
logical mental operations
decentering
little scientist

4.  Formal Operations 12 +
abstract thinking
mental operations on what they DON'T see
hypothetico-deductive thinking
culture-dependent (formal schooling)

Object Permanence

Criticisms of Piaget
stage vs gradual change
measurement limitations of Piaget's methods (age problems)

Film: Megan and Piaget's preoperational thinking

PsychINFO searches finding use of "Piaget" or "Vygotsky" in abstract:
1872-2001: Piaget 2,961; Vygotsky - 828
1990-2001: Piaget - 759;  Vygotsky - 602
1990-2001: Piaget - 387;  Vygotsky - 390
1990-2001: Piaget - 21;  Vygotsky - 22

difference is the approach to problems - different viewpoint totally

cognitive development is contingent upon interaction with others

focus on the social and cultural world, not individual performance

social interactions in which partners jointly work to solve problems (like the first statement on my web page)

the nature of the partnership is largely determined by cultural and societal factors

institutions provide opportunities for cognitive growth

distinguished between lower and higher mental functions

    lower functions are just physical skills
    higher functions are all of those that involve symbolic mental processing

emphasize particular tasks

"Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the
social level, and later on the individual level; first, between people
(interpsychological), and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This
applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the
formulation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relations
between human individuals" (Vygotsky, 1978:57 in Lock, 1989).

Zone of Proximal Development

1. indicates nearly accomplished learning - I'm almost there, I just need some assistance
2. scaffolding
3. different types of ZPD
4. Cultural or Psychological Tools - language, alphabet, scientific disciplines, religion
1. various systems for counting; mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems; works of art; writing; schemes, diagrams, maps, and technical drawings; all sorts of conventional signs, and so on.(Vygotsky, 1982:137, cited in Cole & Wertsch)

"Language is initially used in interaction between adult and child as a means of
communication. Gradually it is internalised into a means of the child's own thinking and control of his or her own activity (Lock, Lecture 18). Language is one of the tools that enable the emergence of self awareness and the voluntary control of our actions. With young children parents act to control their behaviour, as the child develops greater awareness of what is acceptable and what is not she or he takes over some of this control. Where initially it is the adult who says yes or no to the child, eventually the child will say yes or no to her or himself. For the child to become responsible for his or her actions self awareness is necessary. Language provides us with the tools to gain self awarenes and consequently voluntary control of our actions" (Nicholl, 1999).

Words are SYMBOLS used in the mind to give our lives MEANING. What does someone saying "I love you" make you feel? Those are just words, but they invoke feelings and thoughts and beliefs in your mind.

Decontextualization - results in mastery of abstract reasoning

Private speech - indicates cogntive growth
(and Piaget viewed private speech in a way that is directly opposite from Vygotsky)

Vygotsky in the classroom

1. active learning
2. cooperative learning
3. reciprocal teaching